Who cares about ALS? In India, the Ice Bucket challenge is all about fun

The ALS challenge, where we have seen a host of celebrities dump buckets of ice water on their heads, may have ratcheted up the YouTube hits, but have they really done much for awareness of the disease?The challenge, which has been going viral across social media networks, is very simple. A person who is tagged by someone either dumps a bucket of ice water over their heads within 24 hours or donates $100 to the ALS foundation.And while the videos have been great fun to watch, have they really benefitted ALS? Because right now it seems that the videos themselves have completely overshadowed the disease that they are supposed to raise awareness and funds for. In fact this article even gets the name of the disease completely wrong, calling it ASL.[caption id="attachment_1674807" align="alignleft" width="380"] Melinda Gates takes the challenge[/caption](ASL, for the uninitiated and the very very young, was an abbreviation for Age/Sex/Land and was how people would ask for information about each other on group chatrooms which were really the social networks of the early nineties. It is also the current abbreviation for the American Sign Language. Either way, not the disease that everyone is trying to raise funds for.)The ice bucket challenge, as noted in this Times article, is the hottest thing on social media right now. And as the videos have flooded timelines and tweet feeds across social media, celebrities from other countries (Like Australia and India) have all got into the act.Which begs the question: how many of us who have seen the ALS ice bucket challenge even know what the disease is? Not too many, if you judge by general Timeline chatter.ALS or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord that causes total paralysis and eventual death. (Read more about it here)In the US, despite allegations that the ice bucket challenge is yet another flaky social media concept, the campaign seems have had a real impact, at least in dollars.Time Magazine reports that the organization’s national office has received $5.5 million for Lou Gehrig’s disease research since July 29, compared to $32,000 in the same period last year. Because although, as pointed out by our very own Sonakshi Sinha, the challenge tells you to either dump a bucket of ice water on your head or donate $100 to the ALS Association, many people have chosen to do both."These donations have come from existing donors and 637,527 new donors to The Association", says a statement on the ALS association website.In this touching video, this one young man, who like his mother suffers from ALS, explains the importance of the viral challenge to him."The ALS community is the main spotlight and for once in my entire life, I have seen it in the forefront", he said, often breaking down in front of the camera. Interspersed with shots of him taking care of his fully paralysed mother he says, "There are around 30,000 people in the US diagnosed with ALS. Not many people know about it and there aren't enough of us to make it worthwhile for drug companies to invest in. My life is not worth saving".Forbes offers more fodder against the naysayers, taking down three popular criticisms against the meme: that it has not actually raised money for the disease, that money actually might be wasted if people invest based on internet memes and that for all the noise it’s generating, it’s useless.It says: And, honestly, I’d think giving money to a program that backs ALS research is a welcome change from disease foundations that devote much of their money to awareness or screening programs that may actually have less of an impact. I think the people trying to throw cold water on the Ice Bucket Challenge simply need to warm the icy cockles of their own hearts should stop. It’s great that ALS charities are getting these donations.Ok, so ice bucket works for ALS in the United States -- which one assumes was the original intent.But that still doesn't explain why Bollywood stars like Abhishek Bachchan and Bipasha Basu are dumping buckets of cold water on their heads, other than the fact that they seem to want to cash in on the latest viral trend. Business Insider notes that the challenge was kicked off in India by tennis player Rohan Bopanna who then nominated actor Rahul Bose, and it spread across the celebrity athlete/actor network hereafter. Hence we now have Daler Mehdi dropping three buckets of ice cubes on himself while humming bole tara-ra. The ALS challenge in India is the new Harlem Shake -- more about having fun than the cause itself.ALS is rare enough in the United States, but in India, it is so off the radar that we don't even have an estimation of the number of cases. Besides, the ALS challenge makes sense in the USA where the more prevalent diseases like cancer are well-funded. In India, however, the leading diseases remain untreated and unfunded. As one person pointed out on Facebook, "Maybe in India we should be dumping buckets of ice water on our heads for TB". The added upside: We'll all know exactly why we're doing it.